1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanical toys with movable body parts. More particularly, the invention relates to a realistic electro-mechanical toy that can replicate lifelike grasping and standing positions of animals and other creatures while they are supported by bar or perch as well as when they are free-standing on horizontal surfaces by coordinating the positioning and movement of specific body parts.
2. Description of the Related Art
The toy industry has seen an evolution of technology in recent years which has coincided with a consumer demand for more and more realistic toys and games. Several sectors of the toy industry have used technological advancements to make toys and games more realistic and lifelike. For example, video games are more realistic and lifelike than anyone could have imagined, and dolls can now speak, walk, and even roller skate. As technology continues to improve, consumers want toys that have more capabilities or that are more realistic.
Consumer driven evolutions in the industry is found in toys embodied as creatures, animals, dolls and various other life forms real or imagined. To provide a more realistic and interactive doll or toy, the toy industry has generally employed relatively inexpensive motors and linkage assemblies to provide realistic mechanical dolls and toys. However, although such dolls may provide some realistic movable body parts, the dolls do not exhibit realistic limb movements and postures while supported through grasping a bar or perch or free standing positions on a horizontal surface.
Recent attempts to increase the realism of a doll or toys' grasping ability focus on either support through grasping a bar or perch or a free-standing position on a horizontal surface. An appendage system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,638 entitled “Manually Activated Figure Toy” to Emerson et al., issued Oct. 12, 1999, incorporates a bird with a trigger mechanism. The bird's talons are disclosed in the '638 patent as initially in a closed position. When the trigger is pulled, the talons enter an open position. If the bird is put onto a bar and the trigger released, the closing talons will hold the bird onto the bar.
Another attempt to simulate a doll or toy support through grasping a bar or perch using an appendage system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,138 entitled “Animated Action Toy Bird” to Holahan et al., issued Jan. 1, 1981, which incorporates a bird with grasping abilities. The '138 patent grasping ability occurs in two ways. One, by pulling a plunger on the back of the bird, the talons of the bird can be opened and closed around a bar or perch. The second, a button on the palm of the talon can be depressed causing the talons to enter a closed grasping position, preventing the bird from obtaining a free-standing position.
Other attempts to simulate a doll or toy with contracting appendages focus on a doll in a free-standing position that when manually activated has appendages that contract in a grasping manner as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,419 entitled “Figure Toy With Gripping Legs Assembly” to Droller et al., issued May 19, 1987, incorporates a doll, capable of a free-standing position. Necessary to the '419 is a button located on the dorsal side of the figure, when compressed, the appendages contract inward. By releasing the button, the appendages are return to their original positions.
Another attempt to simulate a doll or toy in a free-standing position that when manually activated has appendages that contract in a grasping manner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,188 entitled “Tendon and Spring for Toy Actuation” to Clark et al., issued Jan. 3, 1995. The '188 patent incorporates a doll, capable of a free-standing position. When the doll's torso is compressed, the upper appendages curl inward and the lower appendages rise upwards, removing the dolls free-standing ability. By releasing the doll, the upper and lower appendages are motivated to their original positions.
A need exists for a limb or appendage system to coordinate realistic limb movements and postures where the doll or toy is supported by grasping a bar or perch or where the doll or toy is free-standing on a horizontal surface. Moreover, a need exists for a doll or toy that can be readily transferred from a grasping position to a free-standing position while maintaining realistic limb movements and postures.